Balneology in the Czech Republic

     Using natural medicinal sources, baths, drinking water and treatment in a spa has played a significant role in medicine as one of the oldest way of therapy to have ever been used. Gradually spas were built near sources, mainly around the springs of mineral and thermal water. The deposits of peat and mud were also valuable materials for the warm treatment and packs, favoured by the people with rheumatism. Favourable climate has given rise to a lot of spas. However, spas have not always been built only near natural sources. Sometimes, a reformatory healer with a strong personality enforced new methods. For example, using regular cold water in various application forms for treatment, thus contributing to the establishment of a lot of spas.

Spas are not located all over the world equally. Although the sources have been here for a long time, balneology has especially remained typical for Europe. A few spas have also been built in Asia. The oldest tradition in Europe is in Italy, followed by our country, Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Russia. In Anglo-Saxon countries and in America this industry has not been very developed in the past, and the attitude towards it has been a bit reserved. Thus, it is not very used these days.

The tradition of our balneology is younger than that of South Europe and in the Mediterranean lands with old patterns. However, our spas have received extraordinary repute and esteem in the past in Europe and have finally become an important part of medicine and balneology. Mainly West Bohemian spas have become famous in the last century. Therefore, it is no wonder that both balneology and hydrotherapy were for the first time lectured at the European University in Prague.

Balneology in the Czech Republic

In this part of the world where the geological characteristics of the terrain produces many water sources and springs balneology is an inseparable part of the heritage. Legends and written documents are the proof of the respect and interest attached to these springs which are natural treasures.
Today modern medical and physical therapy treatment combined with the virtues of mineral water have made the Czech Republic a place of world renown. Besides medical cures the spas provide rest and tranquillity and enable people to relax and improve their physical fitness. These privileged sites offer well being for inhabitants, patients, and visitors.


Marianske Lazne is considered as a pearl among spas

Karlovy vary
Surrounded by wooded hills and situated in a very beautiful valley at the confluence of the river Ohre and the river Tepla, at an altitude of 450 m, Karlovy Vary is today with its 60.000 inhabitants and its 80.000 patients and visitors the largest thermal spa in the Czech Republic.
Founded around 1350 by Charles IV (King of Bohemia who first of all built a small hunting castle there), this town took on the name of Karlovy Vary which means "the baths of King Charles". As a prestigious spa it attracted among others Goethe, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Lizst, Gogol, Tourgueniev, Tchaïchovski, Peter the Great..
Situated in the western part of Bohemia 130 kms from Prague and 45 kms north of Marianske Lazne, Karlovy Vary has twelve hot springs with different chemical compositions and temperatures. Vidlo Sprudel is the largest and spouts from the ground in the form of a geyser 12 metres in height and with a temperature of 72°C.
Because of the hot springs, natural gas, and peaty mineral mud Karlovy Vary specializes traditionally in the treatment of digestive problems (liver, pancreas, bile duct), metabolism disorders (diabetes, obesity), problems of locomotion (joints, spine). But the spa has also adopted modern therapeutic methods and specializes in a complex therapeutic program consisting of: detoxification, peat and paraffin wrapping, cryotherapy, medical gymnastics, traditional and aquatic massage, acupuncture and walking in natural surroundings.

Marianske Lazne
Situated at an altitude of 600 metres at the foot of the Slavkovsky mountains, 170 kms from Prague and 50 kms from the border with Germany, Marianske Lazne is considered as a pearl among spas. It owes its reputation mainly to around forty springs of cold water saturated with carbonic anhydride, rich in minerals and iron. (There are around one hundred other springs near the town).
This area which had been frequented for a long time by invalids who came to immerse themselves in the mud of the marshes and drink the water with its medicinal virtues finally attracted the specialists who carried out the first chemical analyses.
At the end of the 18th century Dr. Josef Jan Nehr, devoted all his time to the treatment of the sick and the building of the baths. He convinced the abbot Trautmannsdorf who built his own house near the Cross Spring in which the first patients were treated. Following his success the Convent of Tepla built in 1805 the first thermal house near the " Marie Spring" and the small locality received in 1808 the name of Marianske Lazne, which means "the Baths of Mary". Then in 1813 it acquired the status of spa.
A few years later the architect Vàclav Skalnik dried out the marshes and planted such beautiful gardens and parks that today they are still the pride of the town.
In 1865, owing to its development it received town status, and in 1885 with the arrival of the first trains thousands of visitors swarmed there.
Many monarchs stayed in Marianske Lazne such as King Edward VII of England, the Austrian Kaiser Franz-Joseph 1, the Shah of Persia..
The cold water rich in carbon dioxide from this spa was used to treat many disorders: kidney and urinary problems, metabolism disorders, respiratory and skin diseases. This spa also specializes in hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, medical gymnastics and diets..

Frantiskovy Lazne
Founded in 1793 thanks to the efforts of a physicist Adler who sought the help of emperor Leopold II, this small town situated in the most westerly part of the Czech Republic has retained the picturesque characteristics of the old spas.
This spa has 23 gaseous mineral springs. The water with its high sulphur content, the sulphurous and ferruginous mineral mud and the natural gas is used for the treatment of cardio vascular problems and locomotion disorders in particular.

There are other spa towns such as Konstantinovy Lazne known for its treatment of vascular diseases, Teplice with it bicarbonic and sodic mineral water used mainly for problems of locomotion, nervous diseases and the effects of myelitis and encephalopathy, Jachymov with its radioactive waters, Podebrady (the nearest spa to Prague). These are a few of the spas among the 35 thermal centres in the Czech Republic).

The history of balneology (1)

Balneology is not a new discovery! According to ancient texts it would appear that as long ago as 3000 years before our era ( perhaps even before) Egyptians were already using thermal springs. From the 4th century B.C. the Greeks and then the Romans partook in the pleasures of thermal baths.

Balneology in Greece
Thermal waters in Greece were first of all associated with hygiene and the first baths appeared at gymnasiums. The baths were then simply annexes of gymnasiums which were frequented by athletes, soldiers and even philosophers. Even if they were used mainly for washing they also provided bathers with relaxation and entertainment before physical or intellectual exercise.
The architecture of the gymnasium consisted of two basic elements, a building with columns
demarcating the gymnasium and an extension providing covered tracks and promenades. Besides these establishments especially intended for athletes and soldiers there were public baths which fitted in with the natural location.


Reconstitution of the thermes of diocletien in Rome - E.Paulin, école nationale des beaux arts Paris

Balneology in Rome
Already in the republican era some very rich citizens already owned private bathing rooms next to the kitchen where water could be heated. It was in the 2nd Century B.C. that the first public baths appeared; first of all for the very poor and then for all the Roman citizens.
The thermal baths were located in a place which was specifically provided and equipped. These places were sometimes vast; this was the case of the imperial thermal baths (the thermal waters of Caracalla and Diocletiani in Rome), which was an enormous centre covering several hectares and capable of accommodating 3000 people and at the same time containing libraries, shops, reading rooms, lecture halls, promenades as well as the palaestra, track and baths.
Considered as a public service the thermal baths were open to everyone. The establishment was usually in two parts, one for men and one for women. When this was not the case women bathed late morning and the men at the beginning of the afternoon. A bell was rung to announce the opening of the baths.

The bathers warmed up by playing with a ball stuffed with feathers or sand or filled with air, then after undressing in the apodyterium (changing room) they would rub on oil or wax before wrestling or running in the palaestra..
After exercising they would go to the dry steamroom or laconicum, then to the destrictarium to remove the oil by having their skin scraped by a slave. At this point as they were probably tired they would rest in the tepidarium which was a spacious luxurious room where the temperature was warm. Next it was the caldarium the hottest room and then the sudatorium (a sort of hammam) before entering the massage room. It was only at the end that they would plunge into the cold water pool of the frigidarium. Finally if they had any strength left they could undergo depilation and be perfumed.

As these buildings were gigantic engineers had to resolve many difficult technical problems. The quantities of water needed were enormous; that is why many aqueducts were constructed.
High performance heating was needed to satisfy the requirements in hot water. For this there was the hypocaust which was a kind of central heating which circulated hot air in the hollow walls and under the floor which was built on small brick pillars. The caldarium was well exposed and had large openings to let the sun in.

Thermal baths were so popular that several hundred establishments of all sizes were built in Rome. It was the destruction of the aqueducts following the arrival of the Ostrogoths in 538 A.D. that put an end to the pleasure and relaxation of these privileged places.

Balneology in France in the 20th century

Since the last century balneology in France has become specialized; Vichy specializes in digestive problems, Royat in cardio vascular diseases, Le Mont-Doré in asthma.. Following the discovery of radium by Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898 new opportunities opened up for balneology. Beneficial water with radioactive properties was sought after for its action on the whole body. Radioactivity which is in volcanic and hot thermal water was valued for its therapeutic effects in numerous spas especially in the east of France. This was the case in Plombières-les-Bains (on the borders of La Lorraine and La Franche-Comté) where water with a high radon content and more uncommonly fluorine springs forth at a record temperature of 84°, in Bourbonne (Champagne Ardennes) where it reaches a temperature of 66° , in Luxeuil (Franche-Comté) and Bains-les-Bains.

The First World War marked the end of a period of prosperity for the towns with thermal waters and they had to wait until 1919 for a law giving them the status of thermal spas which enabled specific means to be attributed to them, in particular the entrance tax.
When the Second World War broke out balneology went through another period of crisis. In 1947, however, a particular measure was taken in its favour; the social security system took on the cost of part of the treatment. From this moment onwards social balneology which was at the origin of the development of genuine medical structures replaced luxurious spas. This was so successful that in 1958 faced with the increasing onrush of patients the French government tried to cease the reimbursement of thermal cures. Of course it did not succeed but it managed to make drastic reductions.

In the 1980s a new sort of balneology developed: dozens of thermal spas became fitness centres proposing for their customers who wanted to stay in good health courses for revitalization, relaxation, slimming, anti-stress, anti-tobacco, etc... This new form of balneology with less constraints than traditional cures progressed rapidly. Physiotherapists, hydrotherapists.dispensed well-being to the delight of this new generation of patients. Of course these centres have not replaced medical cures but they have been forced - owing to new treatments - to reduce their range of activities in order to continue operating. Quite often they have to abandon their traditional specialization to devote themselves mainly to the treatment of arthritis, rheumatism and respiratory problems !